A subset of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for knee osteoarthritis develop debilitating knee stiffness (reduced range of motion) for poorly understood reasons. Dysregulated inflammatory and immune responses to surgery correlate with reduced surgical outcomes, but the dysregulated gene signatures in patients with stiffness after TKA are poorly defined. As a consequence, we are limited in our ability to identify patients at risk of developing poor surgical outcomes and develop preventative approaches. In this pilot study we aimed to identify perioperative blood gene signatures in patients undergoing TKA for knee osteoarthritis and its association with early surgical outcomes, specifically knee range of motion. To do this, we integrated clinical outcomes collected at 6 weeks after surgery with transcriptomics analyses in blood samples collected immediately before surgery and at 24 h after surgery. We found that patients with stiffness at 6 weeks after surgery have a more variable and attenuated circulating gene expression response immediately after surgery. Our results suggest that patients with stiffness following TKA may have distinct gene expression signatures detectable in peripheral blood in the immediate postoperative period.
Joint arthroplasty practice is highly dynamic to adapt to economic changes and advances in medicine. This study provides updates of the current perioperative practice on healthcare resource utilization. The study included total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and total shoulder arthroplasty within the healthcare cost and utilization project New York State database from 2007 to 2013 (ie, 202,100, 127,872, and 8858 cases, respectively). A higher proportion of sicker patients were prevalent over time. The length of stay decreased continuously. However, total hospital charges increased after adjusting for inflation. The incidence of wound infection and transfusion decreased steadily over time, whereas acute renal failure has been on the rise. There was an increased utilization of echocardiography, while decreased among other resources. Total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and total shoulder arthroplasty changed toward sicker patients with shorter length of stay, fewer complications, and less resource utilization. However, overall costs increased over time.
Deep infection following total hip arthroplasty remains one of the most serious local complications preventing a successful outcome. Correct diagnosis of infection is dependent on identification of the pathogen. Treatment consists of incision and debridement. Before surgery, the patient should be in good dental health, have good nutritional status, and should be free of infection in any organ system that can later seed the artificial joint.
Patients undergoing bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA) may have higher complication rates and mortality than those undergoing a unilateral procedure (UTKA). To evaluate this hypothesis, we analyzed nationally representative data collected for the National Hospital Discharge Survey on discharges after BTKA, UTKA, and revision TKA (RTKA) between 1990 and 2004. The demographics, comorbidities, in-hospital stay, complications, and mortality of each procedure were compared. An estimate of 4,159,661 discharges (153,259 BTKAs; 3,672,247 UTKAs; 334,155 RTKAs) were included. Patients undergoing BTKA were younger (1.5 years) and had a lower prevalence of comorbidities for hypertension (versus UTKA), diabetes, pulmonary disease, and coronary artery disease (versus UTKA and RTKA). The length of hospitalization was 5.8 days for BTKA, 5.3 for UTKA, and 5.4 for RTKA. Despite similar length of hospitalization, the prevalence of procedure-related complications was higher for BTKA (12.2%) compared with UTKA (8.2%) and RTKA (8.7%). In-hospital mortality was highest for patients undergoing BTKA (BTKA, 0.5%; UTKA, 0.3%; RTKA, 0.3%). Patients undergoing BTKA had a 1.6 times higher rate of procedure-related complications and mortality compared with those undergoing UTKA. Outcomes for patients undergoing RTKA for most variables were similar to those for UTKA. BTKA, advanced age, and male gender were independent risk factors for complications and mortality after TKA.
Surgeons strive to set patient expectations for recovery following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, some patients report dissatisfaction after surgery due to unmet expectations.We compared patients' and surgeon's recovery expectations prior to primary THA and TKA.Sixty eight patients scheduled to undergo primary total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) surgery were enrolled. Before surgery, patients filled out a validated recovery expectations questionnaire that quantified expectations of postoperative pain relief, function, and well-being with a value from 0 to 100 (higher being more optimistic). The surgeon independently completed the same questionnaire for each patient. Overall score and item-specific comparisons were conducted. Correlations were explored between agreement level, demographics, patient-reported health status measures, and patients' assessments of the risk of complications associated with surgery.Most patients undergoing THR or TKR had higher expectations for recovery than their surgeon. Applying the clinically meaningful difference in expectations (≥7 points), 52.5% of the TKA patients' expectations exceeded those of the surgeon, while 22.5% expected less than their surgeon and 60.7% of THA patients' expectations exceeded those of the surgeon, while 21.4% expected less than their surgeon. THA patients with either lower or higher expectations than their surgeon had lower physical and mental health status scores. TKA patients with lower expectations compared to their surgeon had a higher expectation of complications.More than 50% of the patients had higher expectations than their surgeon and this was driven by expectations of high-level activities and extreme range of motion. Further investigations are needed to understand these differences so as to enhance patient preoperative education.